Louisiana’s Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed into law Senate Bill 342 on June 21, which bans almost all abortions in the state and creates criminal penalties for abortion providers who flout the law.
“My position on abortion has been unwavering—I am pro-life and have never hidden from that fact,” Edwards wrote in a June 18 letter to Louisiana Senate President Page Cortez.
Edwards had wanted the legislation to include exceptions for cases of rape and incest, but in the letter to Cortez, the governor said vetoing the bill wouldn’t have accomplished that end.
“In fact, vetoing Senate Bill 342 would leave fewer exceptions in place than if the bill becomes law and would further confuse whether pregnancy begins at fertilization or implantation. For these reasons, I have signed Senate Bill 342 into law.”…